Watching Him
by Revolutionjack
Summary: AU Matthew is in a car accident. Arthur waits for him to wake up, and he isn't alone. Matthew x Ivan


I think this might be my longest work to date! It's certainly the longest recent fic and longest Hetalia fic. I hope you enjoy. Reviews are love! Criticism is welcomed and flames will be saved to heat my room during the winter.

I don't own Hetalia. If I did, Canada would be more than an afterthought and it'd be much slashier. Anyway, don't sue.

Matthew was on his way to the grocery store, in a bit of a hurry because it was late and he wasn't sure what time it closed. His father, Arthur, had asked him to pick the next day's breakfast on his way back from his cousins house. Matthew jogged up the street, seeing the store just up ahead on the other side of the street. Further up the side walk he saw a familiar silvery-blonde head towering above the few other pedestrians.

Matthew called out to the slowly approaching figure of his friend, "Hey Ivan!" The man looked up. "I'm just running across the street to the store for a second, then maybe you could walk me home and we could talk about what you asked me earlier?" With this Matt shot a shy smile at the other man.

Ivan smiled back, "Da."

Matthew spares a second to check the street for cars before starting to cross the street.

Suddenly a car careens around the corner, faster than it should be going, blaring loud music and swerving erratically.

_Ba-dump_

Matthew stared at the car, stiff with horror, time seemingly frozen. He looked back, searched for Ivan's face, maybe to apologize for missed chances, only to find that it wasn't where he expected it to be.

_Ba-dump_

While time froze for Matthew, Ivan sprung into action, diving into the street to try and knock his friend away from the oncoming car.

_Ba-dump_

He nearly succeeded. His frantic shove was enough to get most of Matthew's body out of the path of the drunk driver.  
_____________________________

Ambulances rush to the scene, alerted by a girl too in shock to panic.

As Matthew is loaded into the ambulance he dimly hears the EMTs saying that he is so lucky, to escape with just his legs broken. He is too busy staring at Ivan's face, which is paralyzed in shock. Matt has just enough time to think that Ivan looks surprised before the pain takes over and he fades into unconsciousness.  
_____________________________

Arthur rushes into the hospital, having received a phone call saying that his son was in the emergency room about to go into surgery. He frantically questions the nurse on duty, only to find that Matthew was still in surgery. It was pretty bad, but he would survive; a drunk driver had hit him, breaking his legs.

Arthur is sitting in the waiting room wondering how the surgery is going, when he feels like someone is watching him. He glances around the waiting room and meets the eyes of a quiet blonde man. Arthur gives him a friendly nod, but the man turns to watch the doors to the surgery open. Arthur recognizes the surgeon working on Matthew, immediately jumping out of his chair to greet the man.

The doctor is smiling, "Good news Mr. Kirkland, your son will be fine. He was a bit sensitive to the anesthetic we used so he might be under for a while, a week at most.

Arthur looks over to see the blonde man's mouth twitch into a brief smile, before frowning and turning to the surgery doors just as a covered body is wheeled out. Arthur turns to the doctor, who answers Arthur's unspoken question "That wasn't Matthew. That young man wasn't as lucky. Anyway, you can come back at anytime to visit Matthew, but he'll be unconscious for at least the next few days.

Arthur sits with Matthew a few hours, wondering the what ifs, what if he hadn't sent him to the store, what if he'd left Alfred's earlier, what if he'd stopped for groceries on his way back from work? He goes to get a drink of water and when he returns the blonde man from earlier is sitting in the corner. Arthur can see now that the man is about Matthew's age, perhaps a bit older. "Are you one of Matthew's friends?" The young man nods a brief affirmative, then leaves the room.  
______________________

As the next few days pass Arthur continues to visit Matthew, and no matter when he visits the blond man is there, sitting quietly watching Matthew. After the nod on the first day Arthur was unable to coax any form of communication out of the man. They sat together silently, waiting for Matthew to wake up.

Four days after the operation Ivan finally speaks. "I have to go."

"I understand," Arthur replies. "Your family must be worried about you, I'll have him call you if you aren't back when he wakes up."

"I'm not coming back."

"What!?"

"Can you give him a message for me?"

"Uhh, sure, I guess."

"Can you tell him that I love him and I hope to see him again sometime?"

Arthur softened. "Of course. I'll have him call you."

The young man walked over to Matthew and kissed his forehead, whispering something in an unfamiliar language. "Я тебя люблю."

Arthur watches the young man walk out, watches him turn around and look at Matthew one last time before he leaves.

Less than an hour later Matthew begins to wake up. Groggily, he notices Arthur, who smiles.

"Hey, welcome back to the land of the living."

"What happened?"

"You were in a car accident—"

"I remember that part, why am I so tired?"

"You were sensitive to the anesthetic they used during the surgery. By the way, your friend visited you, practically lived here the four days you were under."

"Who?"

"I don't know his name, but he asked me to tell you that he loves you and hopes to see you again sometimes. I got the impression he wanted to be a bit more than friends."

"What did he look like?"

"He was tall, sturdy, blonde, wore a long tan coat and a light colored scarf."

The effect of the words was immediate. Matthew bursts into tears. Matthew sobs and says something unintelligible. Eventually Matthew calms down to the point where Arthur can understand him.

"He was my friend Ivan, Ivan Braginsky. He had asked me out the day of the accident. I spotted him right before the accident, told him that I was running into the store and that he could walk me home, I all but told him I'd say yes. Then I walked into the street and the car came flying at me. He pushed me out of the way, Arthur. He practically tackled me out of the way. He shoved me out of the way and took my place. I saw his face when I was being put in the ambulance, he was dead Arthur, he was dead before we even got to the hospital."

Later on when Matthew has cried himself to sleep, Arthur thoughtfully walks down to the nurse's station. "Did you have a patient here, named Ivan Braginsky?"

The nurse checks the record before replying, "Yes, he came in on the same call as your son, Mr. Kirkland, I'm sorry to tell you this, but he died before the ambulance reached the hospital."

Arthur thanked the nurse absentmindedly and wandered back to Matthew's room, where he sat totally quiet watching Matthew, and felt like someone was watching him.


End file.
